05/29/2026
This is the article from last weeks Dyersville Commercial. Thank you Diane Koch for the great article about Holy Trinity Church in Luxemburg and the Dyersville Commercial for printing the article.
DYERSVILLE AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
BY DIANE KOCH
The fourth corner of Luxemburg is that of the Holy Trinity Church and school.
In the early years of Luxemburg, Catholics were attending services in New Vienna and Holy Cross. Even before 1860, a group of farmers desired to have a church and Catholic school in Luxemburg. By 1860, there were about one hundred contributors toward a building fund for a church.
John Plettchette, who died in 1859, bequeathed six acres of land for church property on the condition that a church be built within two years. A committee was sent to Bishop Smyth to request a priest. He told them they had no church and he had no priest to send. Also the pastors of Holy Cross and New Vienna were opposed to founding a new parish so close to their own. The people of Luxemburg were determined to found a parish. They proceeded to erect a frame church in 1861 for about $500 and much donated labor. The basement of the church was equipped for a school with Anton Pfeffer the first teacher. Mr. and Mrs. John Floyd of Pin Oak, later Holy Cross, contributed to the building of the first Holy Trinity Church even though they were not Catholic. They also contributed to the construction of Holy Cross Church in Holy Cross.
Finally in June 1865, the church was formally dedicated by Father Alois Meis, the first native son of the New Vienna parish to be ordained to the priesthood. Rev Conrad Schulte, also a native son of St. Boniface Church, was pastor of St. Mary's Church, Guttenberg. He was appointed to serve Holy Trinity as a mission parish.
Rev. Frederick Hannasch was the second pastor. Upon the death of Rev. Hannasch in 1872, Rev. Frederick Oberbroeckling became the third pastor. He was stern and uncompromising during his 51 years as pastor. He was a builder. In 1874 the present church was built to replace the small frame church built in 1861. In 1877, the old church was remodeled into a four room school. In 1899, the rectory was built; the sisters’ convent was constructed in 1904. In 1878, the Franciscan Sisters of Lacrosse, WI, took over the teaching responsibilities of the school.
During the building of the church, when the rafters were up and the steeple partly up, a tornado reduced five months of work to a pile of rubble on July 25-26, 1874. A non-Catholic neighbor, Ulrich Anderegg, offered to donate all the brick needed to restore the walls and a loan to enable the parish to continue with the building. Fred Althoff remembers there were gouges on the hillside of what was the Ulrich Anderegg farm, now the John and Karen Anderegg farm. He thought they looked reddish, making it possible those may have been excavations of the brick-making clay. There are still Andereggs living in the area, some being the fourth generation.
Another tragedy struck August 9, 2010, when a bolt of lightning struck the steeple of Holy Trinity Church causing it to be destroyed by fire. The original steeple was built of heavy timber; the current steeple is made of structural steel. Klauer Construction of Dubuque completed the reconstruction almost a year later in 2011.
The first priest to be ordained from Holy Trinity Parish was Very Rev. Fredrick J. Brune. He was born in Oldenburg, Germany in 1856. At the age of 13, he gained passage to America, making his home with his uncle, Joe Westendorf of Luxemburg, Iowa. He studied at St. Joseph's College, now Loras College, St. Francis Seminary, Milwaukee, and Sulpician, Montreal, Canada. He was ordained in St. Raphael's Cathedral in Dubuque in 1884. Fr. Brune celebrated his first Mass at Holy Trinity Church at Luxemburg. Father Brune passed away in 1928 at St. Mary's, Alton, Iowa, where he served 34 years.
Father A.J. Thole, a native son of Petersburg, served Luxemburg from 1923 to 1944. With his passing of a heart attack, Father John Theobold replaced Father Thole in 1944 and retired in 1967. Father Theobold was a believer in recreational activities for the young people. In 1946, he equipped the school auditorium for basketball. In 1950, at the suggestion of the pastor, men of the parish graded and leveled the field south of the rectory to make a baseball field. Some of the wives also came to prepare a noon meal and an afternoon lunch.
As in many of the towns and church parishes in the area, the city and church supported each other in their growth through the years. The city of Luxemburg celebrated both its Centennial and the Golden Jubilee of Holy Trinity’s Pastor Father John Theobald, on June 13, 1965. On that day, Father Theobald began the celebration with a Solemn High Mass. Monsignor John Mayer, pastor at St. Francis Xavier in Dyersville, delivered the homily. A dinner was served in Father Theobald's honor. Following the dinner, a picnic was held on the parish grounds.
Father Theobald was ordained in 1919 at St. Paul Seminary, after which he taught at Loras College until 1944. During his tenure at Loras from 1924 until 1929, Fr. Theobald drove to Colesburg to minister there. In 1944 Father Theobald was appointed pastor of Holy Trinity Parish. He served there until his retirement in 1967. Father Theobald was known throughout the world for his discoveries in the study of meteors and meteorites. He passed away in May 1969. Then Rev. Thomas Zinkula, the present Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, served as pastor of Luxemburg and Holy Cross parishes from 2002 to 2007. In 2002 Holy Trinity Parish became part of the LaSalle Pastorate, which includes Balltown, Holy Cross, Luxemburg, Rickardsville and Sherrill.
Holy Trinity Parish held an Octoberfest church picnic in October for many years. One of its loved traditions was to begin the festivities with a Polka Mass. Father Ptacek's Polka Group of Elma, Iowa, led the congregation. To follow was a chicken and ham dinner, along with games for young and old. Polka music and dancing were featured in a tent on the grounds during the afternoon. The church picnic is no longer held; instead its fundraiser is now an auction which will be held June 14th.
Holy Trinity Church held its sesquicentennial on June 15, 2025, with a Mass, followed by a community picnic in the city park with lunch and games. Looking back, Father Tyler Raymond and parishioners were amazed how the church overcame adversities to be able to celebrate 150 years of dedication to its parishioners.
Like several other churches in the area, the Gothic architecture is evident. The Stations of the Cross and Christmas crib figurines were hand-carved and imported from Europe. The interior of the church was repainted and redecorated in 1988.
In front of the church stands the statue of St. Isadore, patron saint of farmers, erected in memory of Katherine Goebel.
The first rectory was built in 1899. A new ranch-style rectory replaced the previous rectory in 1983. An auction of antiques of the rectory and the old rectory building was held in October 1982.
The first Catholic school was in the basement of the first church built in 1861. A second story was added to that church making it a four-room school in 1877. In 1878 the Franciscan Sisters of Lacrosse, WI, took over the school. Shortly after Father Thole arrived, he decided to build a new school. In 1947 the ninth grade was added. The tenth grade was added the following year. The remaining high school studies were completed in neighboring high schools. The junior high school was discontinued when it became part of the interparochial high school at Holy Cross in 1964, named Leo High School. Leo High School closed in 1990.
Much of the Information regarding the history of Luxemburg and Holy Trinity Parish was taken from the book “City of Luxemburg, Iowa – Celebrating 100 Years.” Many more details of the town and church history can be found in the book. The book is available for review at the Dyersville Area Historical Society.
